WWII veterans to reunite, return to Hoboken where they first sailed into war

Courtesy of www.wham.org/PanamintNine of the original 500 soldiers who set sail on the USS Panamint, shown above, in 1944 will return to Hoboken for their annual reunion. A memorial service will be held for them on Friday at the World War II Memorial on Sinatra Drive.

On Nov. 22, 1944, the USS Panamint set sail for World War II from the Todd Shipyard in Hoboken with 500 Navy men in its hull.

She survived numerous battles in the South Pacific and kamikaze attacks on the waters near Japan. Most miraculous, however, is the fact that each of the original 500 men also survived the war.

On Thursday, nine of some 35 remaining USS Panamint veterans will gather for their 20th annual reunion.

This year, the men, their wives, children, grandchildren and even some great-grandchildren will gather in Hoboken for four days to honor the site where they first met one another.

"The only time they ever discuss the war is when they get together," Anne Marie Macnamara, who has organized the last six reunions for the group, said. "They all have memories that they want to share but they're not able to share them properly with strangers or even their neighbors."

Macnamara's father-in-law, Dr. William Macnamara, served as the ship's surgeon throughout World War II.

One day years ago, as Macnamara's husband William, jr. was driving on I-95 and saw a car with a USS Panamint license plate. He was so

Hoboken Now file photoHoboken's waterfront WWII memorial and small park where veterans of the USS Panamint will gather for a Memorial Service on Friday.

excited that he flagged the car down. The driver turned out to be one of the veterans who had been treated by his father on board the ship decades ago and invited him to attend the reunion that year.

It seemed typical of the "Lucky 13," as the ship came to be called by the men, and eventually, the Macnamaras became part of the USS Panamint family.

On Friday, she has organized the annual Memorial Service for the men, their families and members of the public at the World War II Memorial on Sinatra Drive.

"I found that it really evoked the feelings of these men," Macnamara said.